The NY Mets have been more active this year in free agency than in the past few seasons and one of their biggest holes is a shortstop, which is why they made an offer to Boston Red Sox SS Stephen Drew and while a deal is still unlikely, it is more realistic than potential trades for Troy Tulowitzki, Asdrubal Cabrera, Alexei Ramirez and Ian Desmond, especially this late in the winter.
According to CBS Sports, the Mets and the Red Sox have made offers to Drew and the Sox are looking to sign him back on a multiyear contract, while the Mets reportedly have offered a deal, while the NY Post has a quote from an exec refuting that. Either way, the Mets have been a team connected with Drew all offseason and now they could get close to a deal as the season gets closer to starting.
Drew is coming off of a solid season that saw him hit for a .253 average with 13 home runs and 67 RBIs in 124 games and this comes as he was limited the season before, playing in just 79 games. The Red Sox would like him back, but he was initially asking for too many years and the Mets would like an upgrade at the position instead of going into the season with Reuben Tejada as their starter. The Mets have played they still could deal in Ike Davis and Lucas Duda, although any heat on those names has long died off and now they are looking to try and sway the 30-year-old SS to sign.
The team already got Bartolo Colon and Curtin Granderson in on deals and that is the most money they have spent in quite some time. The Post report says that the Mets signing Drew is now a long shot and with the start of spring training coming very soon, time for a deal is washing away. The team was mentioned in the offseason in trade rumors with the Rockies for Tulo, but those never morphed into anything realistic and Drew is the only option left now unless they want to go with Tejada.
